1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to recording medium drive units, and more particularly to a recording medium drive unit configured to automatically draw a recording medium inside when the recording medium is inserted through an insertion opening in a front panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been provided a recording medium drive unit housed in an electronic apparatus such as a personal computer so that a recording medium can be inserted into and extracted from the recording medium drive unit. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-236751 discloses such a recording medium drive unit.
This type of recording medium drive unit facilitates data management or data movement by selectively causing a recording medium on which data is recorded to be inserted into or extracted from the recording medium drive unit.
On the other hand, the recording medium is formed of a cartridge of a predetermined size and shape containing a recording medium such as a magnetic disk. A recording method and storage capacity are also standardized. It has been studied to increase storage capacity by, for instance, increasing the diameter of a magnetic disk by enlarging the outside shape of the recording medium.
In this case, in order to ensure compatibility with an already employed recording medium, it has been studied to increase the depth of the recording medium while making the width and a connector common to both recording media.
In the case of configuring the recording medium drive unit so that recording media of different sizes are loadable thereinto, it is desired that the drive unit allow smooth loading of any type of recording medium irrespective of the difference in size between recording media.
Further, in the case of connecting a recording medium inserted into the drive unit to the internal connector thereof, it is desired that the connection be made smoothly. In this case, it is also desired that a holder be driven to stop at an ejection position so that a recording medium of a great depth is prevented from falling off the holder and the rear end of a recording medium of a small depth is ejected to a position where the recording medium is extractable through an insertion opening.